Inuit Law Graduates
Celebrate
IQALUIT, NU-On
June 21, 2005, graduates from Canada's first Arctic law
school received University of Victoria law degrees in
a special ceremony in Iqaluit, Nunavut. The eleven students
earned their degrees through a unique program offered
in the territory by UVic's faculty of law in partnership
with the Akitsiraq Law School Society and Nunavut Arctic
College.
The ceremony,
in Iqaluit's Inuksuk High School, combined Inuit and academic
traditions. Canada's Governor General Adrienne Clarkson,
Nunavut Commissioner Ann Mekitjuk Hanson and Premier Paul
Okalik were among those in attendance. Honorary degrees
were conferred on Madam Justice Beverly Browne, senior
judge in the Nunavut Court of Justice, and Lucien Ukaliannuk,
the Akitsiraq program's elder-in-residence.
"UVic is committed
to increasing the participation and success of Indigenous
people in university. There was a fundamental need in
Nunavut for access to legal education and the Akitsiraq
program met that need by providing students with an outstanding
education in their own territory," says UVic president
Dr. David Turpin.
"These graduates
are likely to become the future leaders and builders of
Nunavut," says UVic law dean Andrew Petter. "One of the
major challenges facing Indigenous students is the great
distances they are often required to travel to obtain
a university education. Through the Akisiraq program,
these exceptional students were able to earn their degrees
while remaining close to their families and culture in
the territory that will now benefit from their legal knowledge."
"The Government
of Nunavut participation in the Akitsiraw law school represents
a significant public investment in our people and our
future which will increase opportunities for individuals
as well as promoting Inuit societal values in all sectors
of our society," says Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik.
Farther from
Iqaluit than any other Canadian law school, UVic has a
national reputation for academic excellence and as an
innovator in curriculum and program development. The faculty
also has a strong Indigenous law curriculum that recognizes
both Western and Indigenous legal traditions.
UVic's ties to
Nunavut began in the early 1992, with law co-op students
engaged to work terms with the Nunavut's Court of Justice.
By 1999, a proposal for an Arctic law school was being
circulated and UVic, seeing the potential of this approach
to legal education, signed on as a partner.
The Program was
funded from a number of sources, including Justice Canada,
the government of Nunavut, Inuit organizations, the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police and the Walter & Duncan Gordon
Foundation. These organizations, as well as private donors,
sponsored students through their studies and some provided
job placements between academic terms. Many of the graduates
will now work for the sponsoring agencies.
